Kindling a missionary spirit
Kindling a missionary spirit on World Mission Sunday
One by one, eight poster-sized images of the North American Martyrs came up the center aisle of American Martyrs Church, carried in by parishioners and then placed on easels surrounding the altar.
Each Mass at the Manhattan Beach parish on the Oct. 19-20 weekend began with that procession, amid the energy generated nearby from an annual parish fair celebration on the school playground and in the gym.
It was both a remembrance of the feast day of the Jesuit missionaries from France in the 1600s, who became the Church’s namesakes, and a way to connect parishioners with further context in commemorating World Mission Sunday.
“One can’t say one is a Christian without being missionary — it’s the essence of our faith,” said American Martyrs pastor Msgr. John F. Barry.